Twenty20 cricket is the most popular and thrilling format of the game. Minor mistakes on the part of any team can hugely benefit its opponents. It is mostly the game of young guns. The hit-and-run nature of this format demands a strike rate of more than 100.In this format batsmen don’t have to be technically correct. They just have to be able to hit the ball hard and long. This type of cricket reduces the gap between a technically sound batsman and an ordinary player.

Cricket is by far the most popular sport in the sub-continent. No other form of entertainment creates as much excitement and enthusiasm in this part of the world as cricket does.

People around the world have been waiting for the high-voltage game between Pakistan and India in the T20 World Cup to be played at the Dubai International Stadium today. It is the first match between the two teams since the 2019 World Cup in England.

How the people are taking this match can be judged from the fact that all tickets for today’s encounter sold out within a few hours and according to some reports it is expected to attract more than a billion viewers.

In the previous six editions, India (2007), Pakistan (2009), England (2010), West Indies (2012), Sri Lanka (2014) and West Indies (2016) lifted the trophies. Surprisingly, Australia have failed to win the title so far.

Pakistan, who are yet to defeat India in a World Cup game – 50-over format or T20 – will be keen to get off the mark, whereas India will want to stretch their record to 13-0. India and Pakistan have met 12 times, with India enjoying a 7-0 record in ODIs and 5-0 in T20Is.

Pakistan lost the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 final to India by just five runs at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2007 when Misbah-ul-Haq failed to control his emotions. He chose a wrong shot when the Green-shirts were just one boundary away from the trophy.

But Pakistan won the title two years later when Younis Khan and company held their nerves in the 2009 final against Sri Lanka and won by eight wickets at Lord’s.

India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral series since 2013 due to political tensions between the two nations.

Their battles in the UAE have produced some memorable performances over the years — Javed Miandad’s six off Chetan Sharma, Virender Sehwag’s triple-century in Multan, Aaqib Javed’s hat-trick, the Venkatesh Prasad-Aamer Sohail face-off, Sachin Tendulkar’s fighting century at Chennai in a losing cause.

Currently India are second in the ICC T20 ranking, while Pakistan are third. On paper India is very strong but on field they will be under tremendous pressure to keep their unbeaten record against Pakistan intact.

If the top order provides good starts and the middle order plays according to their skills Pakistan will have a fair chance to lift the trophy again. Most of the time, Pakistani batsmen get panicky and throw their wickets away on crunch moments.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam believes they will have the edge over Virat Kohli’s India as they have good experience of playing in the UAE. “We are not thinking of the past but the future. We are preparing for that. We are well prepared and will play good cricket on the day,” Babar said.

Pakistan former bowling coach Waqar Younis believes that Pakistan can beat India if they play to their potential.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has said that a “blank cheque is ready” for the PCB if Pakistan beat India in today’s clash.

In 50-overs World Cups, India and Pakistan have met six times and India have won every time: at Sydney on March 4, 1992, by 43 runs; at Bangalore on March 9, 1996, by 39 runs; at Old Trafford on June 8, 1999, by 47 runs; at Centurion on March 1, 2003, by six wickets; at Mohali on March 30, 2011, by 29 runs and at Adelaide by 76 runs on February 15, 2015.

Pakistan beat India in the ICC Champions Trophy final in 2017 in England.

India were always considered better in batting and Pakistan in bowling, but now India has a very balanced bowling attack consisting of fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami and quality spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Rahul Chahar.

On the other hand, Pakistan batting in recent years has improved a lot, with Babar, Muhammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, who have done well against India in the past.

After two warm-up games, Pakistan should prefer experienced players. It’s a good sign that Fakhar is in good form.

Pakistani players and fans are desperate to avenge all their World Cup defeats and the Green-shirts can do it if the batting and the fielding provide full support to the bowling.

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